


Nightmares

by intrepidember



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adult Connverse, Angst, Child Neglect, Coming of Age, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gender Dysphoria, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lion being adorable, Misgendering, Nightmares, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Sharing a Bed, Sorta kinda, Suicidal Thoughts, The diamonds are problematic af, baby steeb, i guess?, the CGs are...quite absent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23650366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intrepidember/pseuds/intrepidember
Summary: Just an exploration of Steven Universe's nightmares throughout the years.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Greg Universe & Steven Universe
Comments: 35
Kudos: 219





	1. 7

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to write a little thingy about the boy and how his subconscious mind evolved as he grew. also im a total sucker for angst and h/c. this first chapter is pretty short. not sure how long the others will be yet. either way, please enjoy!

7.

When he was little, Steven used to get this recurring nightmare every once in a blue moon. It would come to him, haunting his normally peaceful sleep, on stormy nights when the rain beat against the walls of the van, and sometimes even when it was clear and the night air was hot and sweltering, making the inside of the van feel like an oven. 

_He and Dad are enjoying a beautiful summer day at Funland. He drags Dad to the arcade and the two have a blast playing some of his favorite games. He wins them all. They decide to celebrate with some Fish Stew Pizza, but while they walk along the boardwalk the beautiful sunny sky begins to become dark and grey. A giant shadow is cast on the boardwalk by their feet. Before he can look up, an ear shattering roar ripples through the air. Screams of the people of Beach City resound around them, running away in fear, before he catches sight of the biggest thing he's ever seen: a horrible monster the size of a skyscraper, with razor claws on it's hands and feet, spikes all over it's body, terrible gnashing teeth, and glowing eyes staring right at him. Before he can move a muscle, the monster reaches down and scoops up Dad._

_"Steven!" Dad shrieks, but he can't do anything except watch as the monster swallows him in one big gulp._

_He's still just as frozen in fear when the monster reaches for him next._

Steven starts awake with a gasp that sounds more like a sob, sitting up and wrapping his small arms around himself. He's trembling and panting, eyes darting around to rapidly take in his surroundings. The first thing he registers is the sound of rain pelting against the walls of the van. _The van._ He grips the mattress below him, the blanket twisted underneath him, and then his eyes flick over to the sight of his snoring father.

Steven bursts into tears of relief, crawling over to the other side of the mattress to push on the shoulder of the slumbering man.

"Daddy!" Steven whimpers. "Daddy, wake up!"

With a snuffle and a grunt, Greg shifts and turns his head in the direction of the small voice and pressing palms.

"Wh-huh, Steven?" He croaks, blinking blearily. "What's the matter?"

"I h-had a ba-ad dream." The small child hiccups pitifully, tears dribbling down his cheeks.

"Oh, kiddo," Greg sighs, turning around to face his son fully. He opens his arms, brown, sleep-addled eyes shining with compassion. "Come here."

Steven doesn't miss a single beat, all but throwing himself into his father's chest and sobbing messily. Greg wraps his arms around his son, shushing him and stroking his bed-messy head of curls.

"S'okay, Schtuball. I'm here, you're okay now." He murmurs to the child who's shaking like a leaf in his embrace. He presses his lips to the crown of the boy's head, frowning and closing his slightly stinging eyes. He hazards: "Same one as usual?"

Steven nods against him with a hiccup, reaching up and wiping his nose with the back of his hand, sniffing loudly.

"'Was just a dream, buddy." Greg assures softly. "You know I would never let anything happen to you."

Steven nods again, and slowly but surely his breathing start to even out, his tears drying and his gripping hands relaxing as he drifts back to sleep in his fathers arms, feeling safe and loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me down below, or on tumblr @intrepidem :)


	2. 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another short one, hope you enjoy!

10.

_He and the Crystal Gems are enjoying a beautiful summer day at Funland. He drags them to the arcade and the two have a blast playing some of his favorite games. He wins them all, and the Gems applaud him for his savvy. They decide to celebrate with some Fish Stew Pizza, but while they walk along the boardwalk the beautiful sunny sky begins to become dark and grey. A giant shadow is cast on the boardwalk by their feet. Before he can look up, an ear shattering roar ripples through the air. Screams of the people of Beach City resound around them, running away in fear, before he catches sight of the biggest thing he's ever seen: a horrible monster the size of a skyscraper, with razor claws on it's hands and feet, spikes all over it's body, terrible gnashing teeth, and glowing eyes staring right at him. Before he can move a muscle, the Gems summon their weapons and are poised for defense. As fast as lightning, before they could land a single attack, the monster sweeps all three of them up in its clawed fist._

_"Steven!" The Gems shriek, but he can't do anything except watch as the monster swallows all three of them in one big gulp._

_He's still just as frozen in fear when the monster reaches for him next._

Steven wakes up with a gasp, gulping breath into his heaving belly. The first thing he sees after flashes of his nightmare quit playing behind his eyes are the green glowing stars plastered on his ceiling. Gradually, he sits up, unsteady hands gripping onto the comforter that feels far too warm on his fevered legs. 

He hasn’t had that dream in a while, at least not since he moved in with the Gems a couple of months ago. He had thought he was through with that particular night terror now that he’s grown up enough to be a part of the Crystal Gems. It’s not fair, Steven thinks, whimpering in defeat as his shaking refuses to subside despite knowing that it was _just a dream, relax, Steven._

He should be able to handle a dumb nightmare on his own, but it’s so hard to fight the urge to bang on the temple door, calling out to Pearl or Garnet or Amethyst, if only to make sure that they’re safe and out of harms way. Tears sting at Steven’s eyes and he rubs them away angrily, pouting.

“If you wanna be a real Crystal Gem, you gotta be tough like Amethyst, Garnet and Pearl are,” Steven says aloud, reassuring the part of himself that’s wants to run to the temple or even all the way down to the car wash to seek comfort from his Dad, just like old times.

_No. You're a Crystal Gem now._

He crosses his arms over his chest, huffing.

A small, creaking sound grabs his attention and his eyes dart around the parts of the empty house he can see from his bedroom. It’s so dark he can hardly make out anything, which is not comforting. Steven grabs the covers again, lifting them to his shoulders. The action makes a familiar shape with glasses and a tinkling chain tumble down to rest beside Steven’s feet.

Gingerly, the boy picks up MC Bear Bear and hugs him to his chest, laying back down against the pillow. After a while of darting, blinking eyes, restless shifting and hard squeezes to the beloved stuffed animal, Steven eventually falls back into a relatively peaceful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me down below, or on tumblr @intrepidem :)


	3. 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We got a longer chapter up in here! Also, I couldn't stand to make this a complete angst fest, so we got some gems being actual parents in this one! how bout it?
> 
> trigger warnings: slight body horror and emeto.

13.

_He's on a very important mission. A very important, secret mission. That's why he's all alone on this one, exploring the depths of the temple looking for. . . looking for. . ._

_He feels something grab at his ankle and nearly falls onto the ground in surprise. Looking down at his feet, he sees a disembodied, green hand animatedly grabbing at him, wriggling, desperately looking for it's other pieces._

A gem shard.

_Steven then notices that he's got his mother's sword in his grasp, so he shakes the gem limb off of his leg and promptly strikes it with the blade. It poofs on impact and he kneels down to bubble and send it off. Steven barely has time to wonder where the shard may have come from before there are dozens more flopping along the temple floor, getting closer and closer._

_He wields the heavy sword over and over, poofing gem shards left and right and barely having the time to bubble them before the next one is clawing at his heel. He stumbles and trips on a stout purple leg, falling backwards and poofing a small blue hand in the process. He feels it stick into his back with a pinch, so he reaches under himself to pick up the dark blue shard. He studies it for a moment, finding something about it strangely familiar._

_Before he gets the chance to bubble this blue shard and send it on it's way, a red hand leaps into his lap, scrambling to reach the shard he's been studying with an agitated urgency. Confused, Steven takes hold of the small, squirming hand, turning it over and splaying it's fingers out with his own to immobilize it._

_That's when he notices the jagged, red shard embedded in it's palm, grossly incomplete in it's placement. Suddenly, he recognizes the gem._

It's a Ruby.

_He looks to the shard in between his left thumb and forefinger._

But it's not just any Ruby.

_He drops the blue shard and the squirming red hand like they've burned him, eyes widening in horror and disbelief._

_Ruby's hand crawls over to grab a hold of Sapphire's shard, and Steven watches as they become encompassed in light, warping, lifting a few inches off of the ground. Then the light dissipates and the shard and hand are spit back out, flying in opposite directions._

_Steven feels sick when he glances to his right and takes a second look at the purple leg he had tripped over, which is lethargically inching away from him._

_To his left, a slim, pale arm is dragging itself to meet him, and he can picture the smooth, delicate hand with a sword in it's grasp._

_He sees a sleek blue leg huddled in the corner, like it's trying to hide._

_Then a green arm is grabbing his attention, pounding on the floor repeatedly with it's clenched fist, as if it's demanding that he stop sitting around do something about this._

_All Steven does is start to scream._

He's not screaming when he wakes up, but he almost wishes he was. Dizzily, he rolls out of his thin, grey blanket and off of the mattress that's been set up in the bed of the truck, stumbling over to a patch of grass outside of the barn. He falls to his knees, nauseous. He turns his bleary gaze over to the side and catches sight of Pearl and Peridot in the distance, arguing over blue prints for the drill under the moonlight.

The relief of seeing them both in one piece is not enough to keep Steven from revisiting his dinner.

He's not sure how long he’s been throwing up, only that it’s been long enough that he’s just dry heaving now, coughing and spitting globs of bile onto the grass disgustedly. 

“ _Steven_.” 

A cool hand settles on his back, and another on his forehead. Steven blinks reflexive tears out of his eyes, making a small noise of recognition when three eyes meet his two. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he feels the hand on his back begin to rub in soothing circles. He tries not to think about Sapphire’s gem digging into his skin. 

“Oh, stars!” He hears Pearl squawk. He then glances back over and sees her lithe form racing towards him and Garnet, a grave look on her face. ”Are you okay, Steven?“

Steven looks past her for a moment and finds that Peridot hasn’t moved from her spot, but she’s staring straight at him now, looking mildly concerned and slightly scandalized.

Then Pearl is reaching for him with her slim, pale arms and Steven falls back a bit, dislodging himself from Garnet’s soothing grasp. 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he assures with a weak smile, voice absolutely wrecked. He extends his hands out in front of him as a placating gesture. “Must’ve eaten something that . . . Didn’t agree with me. But I’m okay.” He looks back down to the mess he’s made on the grass and wrinkles his nose, wincing. “Sorry,” he adds sheepishly. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Garnet says in a gentle, measured voice.

Steven's eyes dart up at that, then dart away just as quickly. He bites his lip.

Pearl crouches down and places a comforting hand on his cheek.

“Good, you don't have a fever.” Pearl clucks her tongue, fretful blue eyes looking him over scrutinizingly. “But you definitely need some fluids. I’ll go get you a bottle of water from the cooler. Garnet, why don’t you take him back to bed?”

“I’m okay, really!” Steven insists, “Besides, you guys should get back to—“ Before Steven can finish his sentence, he’s being scooped up into the cradle of Garnet’s arms and swiftly carried back inside the barn.

Steven is torn. A part of him wants to protest being treated like a baby, but the rest of him decides to just enjoy the feeling of being safe and taken care of, as well as the assurance that the arms around him are connected to a Gem who's not just whole, but indivisible.

Gingerly, Garnet sets him down onto the bare mattress of which he's become familiar these past few weeks, then she lifts the blanket for him to get back under.

Pearl returns with a bottle of water, as promised. She refuses to let up until Steven drinks at least half of it. He eventually does just that, making her content enough to get back to work on the drill, but only after a tender _Goodnight_ and a brush of absent fingers through his curls.

"I hope you're feeling better now." Garnet says kindly, leaning down to place a light kiss on his forehead. She strokes his cheek. "Let me know if you need anything else."

He watches as she get up off the truck and begins to make her way out of the barn. A request pops into the forefront of his mind, one that comes from a place of fear and vulnerability.

_Will you stay with me?_

A pit grows in his stomach at the suggestion.

_At least til I fall asleep?_

The words are stuck between his lips, eager to spring forth.

"Garnet?"

She stops right before turning the corner, pivoting on her heel to face him.

Steven swallows hard. His mouth is dry all of the sudden, despite the water he just drank. Nervously, he licks his lips and finally opens his mouth.

"Goodnight," is all that comes out of it.

He swears he sees her lips twitch into a slight frown, small and brief, before her expression is back to its usual state, mild and unreadable.

"Goodnight, Steven."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me down below, or on tumblr @intrepidem :)


	4. 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof, why am i writing this when it just makes me sad. (it's because we need to experience the hurt before the comfort :D )
> 
> trigger warnings for implied gore ... it's p vague but just in case.

14.

_“I’m going to show it to you.” Pearl says, her eyes gleaming a cloudy blue color. She’s not looking at him at all, instead her eyes are focused on the largest star system, so close yet so very far away._

_“Pearl!” He exclaims, holding her face in between his hands. “I know you wanna go to space, and I know you worked hard, but sometimes you just gotta know when to bail!”_

_But it’s too late, the engine is rumbling something awful and shrapnel is coming off of the ship left and right, the Mr. Universe emblem tearing and flying off into the ether._

_Steven bubbles himself out of instinct, lifting out of the cockpit and propelling himself into space. Just before the ship catches fire, he sees Pearl's tearful blue eyes staring after him, hands reaching out and trembling lips forming his name._

_“Pearl!” He screeches, slamming his hands against the barrier of the bubble in an effort to push himself back towards her, but the explosion is more than enough to send him hurtling away in the opposite direction._

_“No, no, no, no . . .” Steven starts to panic, gripping the hair on the sides of his head, crouching into a ball, making himself small into a bottom crevice of his bubble._

_He’s lost._

_He’s stranded._

_He’s powerless._

_“And now you’re all mine!”_

_Steven lifts his head sharply, meeting the crazed, fiery glare of a Ruby with a gem instead of an eye and a sharp, glinting dagger at the ready in her hand._

" _W-Wait! You don't have to do this!" Steven begs, wrapping his arms around his middle, pushing himself further into the edge of the bubble that won't give no matter how hard he digs his heels in._

_Eyeball sneers at him, "Oh, give it up already! You can't take this away from me! I'm gonna be a legend!" She boasts, excitement puffing her up like a balloon._ _"What will the Diamonds say when they hear that a Ruby defeated Rose Quartz? They're gonna give me my own Pearl!" She cackles maniacally, a sick look in her eye that makes Steven shiver with disgust._

_"Wait! Please listen! I'm really not my mom! I don't want to hurt you!"_

_But then she's advancing on him so Steven holds out a halting hand, the other covering his gem over his shirt protectively._

_"Just-Just think for a second." He bargains, "We're lost out in space. How are you going to get back to Homeworld alone?"_

_Eyeball scoffs, shaking her head almost patronizingly, and in one swift move she has him pinned to the floor of his bubble, her knife raised above both of their heads. His shirt has ridden up and his gem is in clear view to the Ruby soldier, an easy target._

S _he looks him dead in the eye, and a furious fire is dancing behind her gaze._

_"I've already made up my mind."_

_Then the blade descends onto it's target._

Steven can feel the phantom pain surrounding his gem when he eventually wakes. He can still see the images of what it would look like, feel traces of what it would feel like to have his gem cut out of his body. The feeling swirls around along his insides and, even though he knows it isn't real, it has Steven gripping his belly in a desperate attempt to keep what is inside of it, _inside_.

The mattress below him is soaked in sweat, his curls sticking to his forehead and his pajamas damp and scratchy on his skin. Everything is too much, too hot, too real and too suffocating right now, and he can't breathe, he can't breathe.

Steven scrambles out of his bed and onto the floor with a _thud_ , feet kicking off the comforter that tries to come with him, breath coming in short pants. He tries to catch it, but every time he attempts to even out his breathing some image from his dream plays behind his eyes and then he's choking again, gasping for air and he can't stop the dry sobs that desperately want to make themselves heard but keep getting stuck in his throat.

_I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm safe. I'm safe. I'm safe I'm safe I'm safe I'm safe I'm safe—_

Despite the mental mantra, it takes several minutes to completely convince himself of it.

Once he does, he starts to take note of what's happening in the real world. It's 4:12 AM, according to his Cookie Cat alarm clock, he can hear the early birds chirping outside his window, and it’s come to his attention that his mouth is _super_ dry.

He reaches for the water cup he keeps on his nightstand and finds it mostly empty. He empties it completely, the few cool drops landing on his parched tongue in a decidedly not-satisfying way, and he resigns himself to going downstairs to get more water from the kitchen sink.

When he makes his way down the stairs, he sees the fridge light is already lighting up the kitchen. That's when he notices Amethyst is here, raiding his fridge like she always does when she's feeling snacky. Steven feels his mood brighten considerably from just seeing her, but his hands are still shaking from the dream ( _memory?_ ) he's just experienced.

Amethyst turns when he clears his throat, wide eyes closing in on his familiar form. She smiles a smile that splits her face in two.

"Yo, it's my main Ste-man! What are you doing up?" She steps back from the fridge, a mountain of various foods balancing impressively on a plate. "Come down for a late night snack?"

Steven chuckles, shaking his head. "Nah, I'm just getting some water. Feeling kinda parched."

He flicks the kitchen light on as he makes his way to the kitchen sink. She scarfs down her food as he fills up his cup, quickly gulping down it's contents. Rinse, repeat.

The two quartzes chat for a bit about this and that random thing; an old video game Amethyst just found while shuffling things around in her room, a few of Steven's ideas for this year's Beach-A-Palooza, and it's _nice_. So nice that the boy nearly forgets about the dream. Nearly.

A lull in the conversation, one where Steven tips his head down to the tile floor and his eyes unfocus just a little, has Amethyst piping up.

"Aren't you tired, dude? It's like, still dark outside."

"What? Oh." Steven snaps back to attention. "I mean, not really. I-I went to bed kinda early last night." A bald faced lie, but he's pretty sure Amethyst was shut away in her room for the most of the night anyway.

She must see through it though because she doesn't seem convinced. In fact, she seems a little _concerned_ , an emotion that doesn't look right on her face even in normal circumstances.

"Oh, okay, yeah," She concedes and Steven feels relieved. She starts picking at the bone of a chicken wing she had sucked clean like in a cartoon, hesitating before asking: "So, uh . . . Like, everything’s okay, right? With you?"

Steven frowns in confusion, brows tilted, eyes shining innocently. "Yeah." He assures, doing a big show of shrugging his shoulders and cracking a light hearted grin. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Amethyst suddenly flushes, acting like she got caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Right. No, yeah, nevermind." She runs her hands through her hair nervously and blows a raspberry.

And then it gets really quiet.

"You know what?" Steven says, wanting to set her mind at ease as much as he wants to escape this conversation. "I actually am feeling pretty tired. I think I'm gonna head back to bed." He smiles a hundred-watt smile and does a little wave, "See ya later, Amethyst."

Amethyst's shoulders drop in relief, and she returns with a smirk.

"Alrighty then." She takes the bone she's been fidgeting with and swallows it down in one gulp. "Sweet dreams, Steve-o!"

Steven takes to the stairs and, once he's back in his room, flops down onto his mattress. He's not getting anymore sleep tonight, he knows that for sure.

He pulls his comforter over his head and grabs at his phone, careful Amethyst doesn't see him. Eventually, she heads back into her room in the temple. Sighing a big sigh, he uncovers his head and taps mindlessly on the screen until the sunrise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me down below, or on tumblr @intrepidem :)


	5. 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, this one was actually really fun to write! I got to get real creative with it. As twisted as it ended up, I think y'all will enjoy it!
> 
> Tw for misgendering (like a whole lot of it) and emotional abuse.

15.

_He’s not Pink Diamond, he’s Steven Universe!_

_Steven expertly tosses the pink bubbles into the air, juggling them with a skill and showmanship that feels foreign, like it doesn't belong to him. Pink Pearl, enthralled with the performance, applauds him enthusiastically. He grins a sly grin, throwing each bubble high into the air to dematerialize into sparkles of light, one by one by one._

_Pop, pop, pop!_

_“Very impressive, my Diamond!” His Pearl crooned, pressing the back of her hand to her cheek and gazing upon him adoringly. "You're so very talented."_

_Steven blows her a kiss, making her blush. He feels a tug on his red star shirt, and suddenly there are pebbles surrounding him, some of them leaping up onto his shoulders, gripping the hem of his blue jeans and swinging, or climbing up his hair to sit atop his head. One pebble lifts the front of his shirt to inspect his gem, tapping on its largest facet with a hook like extension of its arm._

_“It’s Pink Diamond!” The pebble cheers._

_. . . He’s not Pink Diamond, he’s Steven Universe!_

_“She doesn’t look like Pink. . .” Another pebble says dubiously, hanging off his pants and observing the strange blue material._

_A particularly tiny pebble jumps up and down on his shoulder, “She’s so much smaller, and has so many weird colors!”_

_Steven hears a sharp gasp, and whips his head around to see Pearl with eyes like pinpricks, both hands covering her mouth._

_“You’re not my Diamond.” He hears her trembling voice clearly anyway, just before the color is sucked from her form and her left eye hardens into a slate, beginning to crack like glass._

_“No, no! I can fix it!” Steven hears himself say, and before he knows it the pebbles are outfitting him in Her clothes._

_The door creaks, and a giant Yellow head peaks into the doorway. The pebbles descend immediately, scampering away in fear to hide in the walls where they came from._

_Pearl’s color is restored and her crack disappears as she stands with a bowed head, hands assuming the diamond salute instinctively._

_Yellow’s neck extends sickly, her head worming it’s way to approach right in front of him, her disdainful expression towering over his height._

_“Yellow,” He greets, lowering his eyes to the floor in a way he hopes is respectful._

_She looks him up and down with her giant, slitted eyes, her sneering face relaxing into something vaguely appeased._

_“Pink,” She returns coldly, “Blue requires you in her extraction chamber.”_

_Steven looks up, relieved that she couldn't see through his disguise like the pebbles._

_“No dilly dallying. You know Blue doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”_

_“Yes, Yellow.”_

_And just like that her head begins to retreat back out of the doorway, closing the door shut behind her._

_“This way, my Diamond,” Pearl says gently, taking his hand and leading him to Blue’s chamber._

_When they enter the room everything is grey and damask, completely unlike the beautiful, cerulean chamber belonging to the Diamond in question. The door is slammed behind him, shrouding the cell in absolute darkness. His Pearl is nowhere to be found._

_Steven falls to his knees, cradling his head in his hands. He’s unsure how long he kneels there, so very alone, before the door is opening again and the entire cell gets flooded with a Blue aura._

_“I cannot believe you, making a scene like that!”_

_He looks up, blinking away a rush of tears that won’t stop flowing._

_“I wasn’t trying to make a scene!”_

_Blue scowls, lifting up a squirming, dark skinned and haired girl from the folds of her cloak, holding her by the wrist between her thumb and forefinger._

_“You’re little pet has been wreaking havoc up and down the halls. What were you thinking, letting it loose in the ballroom?" She dangles the human like she's a repulsive piece of trash, "I should have never let you talk me into keeping this disgusting organic, all it's done is make a mess of things.”_

_“Please, you’re hurting her!” He cries out, the bleary image he can make out not nearly as indicative as the sounds of pain he hears coming from his best friend._

_Blue drops the human carelessly, causing Steven to bubble her reflexively, floating her down next to him on the cold cell floor._

_“I’ll be back for you,” he promises, before sending her off with a tap to the bubble._

_Blue peers down at him suspiciously, and Steven stares back up at her._

_"You look strange, Pink." She comments, looking him up and down, trying to place what's amiss. "It's as if there's something different about you."_

_Steven gulps, looking away quickly._

_"I'm really sorry for what I did, Blue." He says, and now he's much taller, much slimmer, watching a single tear cascade from his chin to the far away ground. "It won't happen again. I promise."_

_Blue huffs, her suspicion assuaged by his apology._

_"White is very unhappy with you. She requires your presence in her ship at once."_

_Steven blanches, "Yes, Blue."_

_"Remember, Pink," She uses a giant finger to lift his chin, forcing him to crane his neck in order to meet her eyes. "What will happen if you misbehave."_

_His mouth is dry, "Y-yes, Blue. I'll behave."_

_She wipes away the tears still flowing down his cheeks._

_"There's a good girl."_

_All at once, Steven is blinded by White light, burning and harsh. He exclaims, lifting his arms to shield his eyes. A mechanical sound whirrs and he's dropped onto a stone floor. Pushing himself to his feet, his eyes dart back and forth in a blur of greyscale._

_"Oh, Starlight," A booming, sinister voice resounds. "What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"_

_Steven is speechless as his gaze travels all the way up to the shining White crown of hair framing the pristine, glittering diamond gem._

_"It seems that every time I give you a freedom, you turn around and throw it in my face," White pouts, "See what I've had to do to keep these three in line?"_

_With a wave of her giant hand, the Crystal Gems are puppeteered into his field of vision, their forms whited-out by the force of the Diamond's influence. All four mouths move when she next speaks._

_"I've had to spread myself so thin to accommodate for your constant misbehavior."_

_"Let them go!" Steven shouts, surprising himself with the volume and the ferocity in his voice. "Let them go right now!"_

_White seems slightly taken aback, too, looking over his defiant form. Then she grins, an evil, twisted, knowing grin._

_"Oh, Starshine," She lilts. "You may have fooled the others, but you can't fool me. I can see right through that disguise you wear so reluctantly."_

_Steven falters, taking a step back as he remembers Blue's advice._

_'Remember, Pink, what will happen if you misbehave . . .'_

_He's not Pink Diamond, he's Steven Universe!_

_He's not Pink Diamond._

_"You're not Pink Diamond," White echoes, and a sharp-pointed, black as night nail is pointed directly at Steven's gem, in plain view thanks to the cut out in his outfit. "That," White caresses the gem with the tip of her nail ever so gently, "is Pink Diamond."_

_And then he's being picked up._

_And he's being brought closer to the glowing, menacing, horrifying face of White Diamond._

_And nails close around his exposed gem._

_And he's panting._

_And he's immobilized._

_And White is smiling sharply._

_"It's time to come out, Pink . . ."_

_And he feels what happens when Pink misbehaves._

Pebbles are surrounding him again. Why are they back? It doesn't make any sense. They say in small voices that _he was screaming,_ that _he was thrashing around,_ and _is he okay, is he hurt, what's wrong, what's going on with Steven?_

At least they're calling him Steven, nowadays.

His vision is blurry like with Blue's power, he can't see the pebbles but he can hear them and he can _feel_ them. Crawling around on his body, fretting over him, arms and legs in his sweat-soaked hair, skittering along his limbs and a single pebble lifting his shirt to make sure there was nothing wrong with his gem.

He lurches up in the bed made just for him, effectively jostling most of the pebbles who were clinging to him.

"Please, get off, get a-away from me." He begs hoarsely, brushing off the examining pebble foremost and the rest to follow. His voice cracks horribly, partly from his recent growth spurt but mostly because he feels like he's about to _shatter_. "Please, don't touch me. P-Please get off, get off of me."

He's been having some dreams about the Diamonds lately, a by-product of spending so much time on Homeworld and painstakingly dismantling the empire piece by piece, but none of the dreams he's had have been quite as horrifying as this one.

He's dreamt about White's Head before, of course. He used to have those dreams all the time, especially during the weeks after it happened, but those dreams were just flashes of his memory, a projection of an event he can never forget any detail of. They were different than _this_. This was brand new and all twisted up and it scared him to know what his brain could make up, frightened him to parse between what was subconsciously fabricated, what was a memory and, stars forbid, what could possibly be Her memories.

Steven, who had been holding himself, was curled in a ball and rocking back and forth on the cushioned slab of stone he used as a bed, abruptly grunted and dug his fingers into his hair, pulling on the strands like he did when his mind felt like not his own. He knew he was crying, but he didn't feel the crying. He knew his stomach was churning, but he didn't register the nausea. All he could really understand was the absolute terror he felt, the excruciating pain he remembered, and the bitter, bitter loathing he was cultivating.

Looking up from his knees, he noticed the protective bubble he had inadvertently incased himself in. Worried glances from the pebbles surrounded the pink barrier and Steven couldn't stop himself from feeling a little guilty for troubling them.

Sighing shakily, he reluctantly dissolved his bubble, curling into himself just a little more.

"I'm o-okay, guys," His voice shook horribly, completely betraying him, but he was betting on the pebbles being easily fooled. He quickly wiped away his tears and attempted a wobbly smile. "I just had a ba-ad dream. It's okay. I'm not hur-hurt."

The pebbles looked uncertain at best, but eventually relaxed into their typical tranquil attentiveness, some of them still watching him with a tenderness that he didn't really know what to do with.

The smallest pebble, the one created from his own tear drop almost a whole year ago, approached him slowly and carefully. Blinking in confusion, Steven reached a hand out to her. The baby pebble wrapped her arms around one of his fingers and squeezed, a mimicry of a hug.

Steven's heart ached at the gesture, partly from the understanding this pebble, his own, seemed to have of him, and partly from imagining how much better it would feel to be wrapped in bigger arms, more familiar arms, a few pairs of arms that could remind him of his real home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof what an absolute angst fest this has been so far, and now more than ever. 
> 
> I feel like I might be going a little ham with the Steven is traumatized thing bc it seems like he didn't know he was traumatized until Priyanka spelled it out for him . . . but I sure am having fun exploring the boys issues!
> 
> Let me know what y'all think in the comments!


	6. 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh i'm so glad i remembered lion exists otherwise we would still be drowning in angst lmao

16.

_It's dark, but the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore and the distant caw of seagulls tells him exactly where he is._

_'Here, in darkness, everything's okay. Listen to the waves, and let them fade away.'_

_Suddenly, he can see the blue of the night sky, the stars that twinkle so distantly and glints of white light on the ocean as it reflects the moonbeams._

_Below him, a small, warm light glows bright. He looks down to see a glow-stick bracelet stuck halfway in the sand. He picks it up, brushes off the damp sand grains sticking to it, and looks at it for a while. It's glow is bright, overwhelmingly so, the red-orange-pinkness of it seeming so out of place in the blues and purples of the nighttime._

_Off to the left he hears the faint sound of shuffling sand. When he looks over, he sees a figure that makes his heart leap in his chest. He shoot up onto his feet._

_"Connie?"_

_She has his back to him and doesn't turn around when he calls her name, acting as if she didn't hear him at all. She just keeps walking, walking away from him slowly and steadily._

_"Connie, wait up!" He calls as he runs to her, glow bracelet in hand. She must have left it in the sand earlier. He should give it back to her._

_But as he's running to her she only seems to get farther and farther away from him, the expanse of sand increasing like some sort of optical illusion. Steven slows down and shakes his head, squinting in confusion._

_"Connie!" He shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth, but she does not respond. She just keeps walking farther and farther away from him._

_After a second or two of watching the back of her head, Steven gets an idea. He starts running again, gaining and gaining speed until suddenly the world around him tilts and morphs into a blur of pink._

_When he stops, he's gone farther than he anticipated, and Connie is nowhere to be seen. He turns around and once again catches sight of her back, calmly walking away from him but in the opposite direction this time._

_Suddenly, anger lights him up just like the glow-stick in his hand. His hands emanate an alien pink light and his cheeks burn with the warmth of it. He growls._

_"Connie! Come back here!" He shouts, "Stop running away!"_

_She's fairly far away, but even from this distance he can see her shoulders tense. And then she stops in her tracks completely, frozen to the spot with an emotion he has no way to discern without her turning around._

_Breathing a sigh of relief, Steven begins racing towards her, holding out the glowing bracelet, his own glowing refusing to diminish until he finally gets to see her face._

_All at once, Connie begins to bolt, taking huge strides across the sand and swinging her arms. She runs like she's afraid._

_Afraid of_ him _._

_Despite himself, Steven only doubles in speed, desperate to reach her and tell her that Everything is Fine! Desperate to give back the bracelet she lost._

_Connie speeds up as well, not sparing a single moment to look behind her shoulder, running away as Steven chases her to no end._

_"Connie, please!" He pants, but it only seems to make her speed up even more._

_Next to her, a burst of white light appears. Steven watches as Lion leaps from his portal and bounds onto the beach, keeping pace with Connie as they both run from him._

_Fluidly, Connie reaches and hauls herself onto Lion's back, gripping onto his pink main and burying her face into it, continuing to hide. Lion pivots suddenly, and Steven can see his glowing white eyes as he roars a new portal into existence._

_"Lion, stop!"_

_But it's too late. The pink beast and the fleeing girl have disappeared in a literal flash._

_Steven stumbles to a stop, crashing to his knees in the sand. The glow bracelet falls out of his grip, rolling and landing back in the sand where he found it. The alien pinkness of his skin diminishes as quickly as it had appeared._

_The moonbeams on the waves dim, the sparkling stars begin to disappear, the blue of the night sky turns into a black and, eventually, Steven finds himself back in complete, total darkness._

There's a mostly-empty carton of vanilla ice cream sitting precariously on it's side, the remaining contents melted and spilling onto his pillow when he opens his eyes.

Steven groans, rubbing his hand over his face and through his oily hair. It's late at night, or early in the morning, he can't really tell. The view outside his sliding door is nonexistent in it's moonless darkness and the inside of his room flickers blue and white from the TV. It had been playing rom-coms when he was still awake and now it was airing reruns of an old-timey sitcom.

He knows he needs to clean up the melted ice cream and the stained pillow. It wasn't that simple, though, because he also knows that he needs to do multiple loads of laundry, take down and wash multiple dishes, pick up multiple empty snack containers, vacuum his floor, _and_ take a shower but all of that seems like far too much for him to handle right now. And who's he trying to impress? The Gems are always gone, always busy with Little Homeschool, are actually about to go on a field-trip soon (or have they left already?), and they rarely ever came into his room anymore even when they were around.

Pushing the stained pillow onto the floor, Steven wraps his head in his comforter and lets out a muffled keening sound. He sniffs, burrowing his head deeper into the cocoon as he resolutely _does not_ think about the dream he just had. _If he doesn't think about it, he'll forget it, and if he forgets it, he won't ever have think about it, or why it happened, or what it means, or about Connie, or —_

Steven keens again, twisting around in his comforter until it won't give anymore and he's immobile in the soft, billowing blanket, wrapped up so tight he's practically restrained. He does _not_ cry; he's done quite enough of that already in the past few days. What he does do is keen again, whining long and pathetic until his voice gives out and then he breathes in and does it again. He doesn't bother trying to look at his phone or check the time. He knows the hour is ungodly and he knows no one is trying to talk to him. No one worth talking to, anyway.

Steven huffs, taking a break from wordlessly complaining with his voice to go limp in his blanket shell. That is, until his ears perk to the familiar sound of scratching coming from downstairs, and an even more familiar yowling growl resonating through the house and up into his bedroom.

_No, Lion._ Steven thinks, hoping he can send the big cat his thoughts. Stranger things have happened. _I'm tired. Just go away._

All he gets in response is louder yowling accompanied by more vigorous scratching.

Steven groans again, this time from annoyance, but still makes no move to get out of his warm cocoon. Not that it matters, however, because after a few seconds he hears a roar like the one from his dream and he silently curses the big pink beast with teleportation abilities. A flash of white light can be seen through his comforter and the sound of giant paws landing on hardwood floor heard. Soon enough, his bed dips and a big snout is pushing into his swaddled lower back.

"Lion, _stop_." Steven whines, squirming when he feels the paws next, digging into the blanket encasing him like he's digging a hole in the dirt.

Lion growls frustratedly, clearly recognizing that his attempts are futile. He must find another way.

"Don't even think about it." Steven warns but, of course, it's in vain.

The big cat bites a mouthful of the comforter and _tugs_ , only succeeded in pulling Steven's unyielding cocoon across the mattress a few inches. Well, that _and_ beginning to tear the comforter itself, pulling apart seams and ripping fabric.

"Lion!" Steven scolds, thrashing about in his nest and finally popping his head free. He wiggles his arms out as well, using them to push against Lion's giant head and pull the fabric from his mouth. " _What_ is your _problem,_ huh?"

Lion lets go right away, sitting back on his haunches and looking up at his boy smugly.

"Well?" Steven barks. "What do you want?"

Lion blinks twice, then descends onto his boy with a chuff, bonking their heads together and nuzzling his face against him. Steven starts to push him away.

" _Wha_ \- Hey!" Steven protests as the creature pins him to the bed, putting his defiant struggling to a swift stop. The big cat continues to climb on top of him with his back legs, seeming to try and avoid stepping on his limbs. Soon enough the oversized house cat finds himself a place tucked against the boy's side, extremely close to falling off the side of the bed but miraculously remaining.

Once settled, Lion clumsily paws at and pulls the stubborn boy closer to his chest, Steven grumbling all the while.

"Are you finished?"

All he gets is another chuff in response. Shortly, the pink beast is nudging some pillows out of the way with his nose and then . . . he starts _licking_ Steven's hair.

"Ugh, _Lion,_ gross!" The half-gem squirms in the animal's grasp, trying his best to wiggle away from the attention but he's frozen to stillness by a low growl and the appearance of claws. Steven huffs indignantly but, after brief consideration, decides to just go limp in defeat.

Pleased by this, Lion continues on with his grooming.

"You know I'm gonna have to take another bath after this anyway?" Steven mumbles. "Lion spit is not exactly the human standard of cleanliness."

Then again, neither is the state of Steven's room. He sighs, stuck in the grasp of a ferocious beast bathing him like he's his cub. A younger Steven would have found this adorable and, as gross as it is, this Steven can't help but feel a little comforted by Lion's attentiveness. He's certainly never done this kind of thing before, and it makes Steven wonder among many things _why now? Why is he being so loving tonight, of all nights?_

Images from his dream play out again in the back of his mind.

_Lion pivots suddenly, and Steven can see his glowing white eyes as he roars a new portal into existence._

_"Lion, stop!"_

_But it's too late. The pink beast and the fleeing girl have disappeared in a literal flash._

Steven wonders if the creature knows about his dream, knows about the abandonment from his two best friends that Steven had conjured up. He wonders just how connected the Lion was to his mind. He seemed to know whenever he needed him, truly needed him. Most days he seemed to know everything. Some days he seemed to know only what's convenient.

Eventually, the grooming stops and Lion lays his head down to rest right next to Steven's. The half-gem turns over to look at the gentle giant, eyes searching his beloved pet's face.

"Would you ever leave me?" He asks softly, "Like, go live with Connie forever instead of me?"

Lion stares at him for a while, big eyes blinking slowly. Then he licks a big stripe up his boy's face.

Steven snickers through his nose, wiping the slobber off of his mouth with mild disgust. Opening his eyes again, he pats the creatures big snout.

"I love you too, buddy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Lion so much holy shit 
> 
> Let me know if you enjoyed down in the comments!


	7. 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, so much for frequent updates... but at long last, here's the last chapter! I hope you enjoy the fluff (WE FINALLY got to the COMFORT of Hurt/Comfort....WITH CONNVERSE!) but I must caution the following--
> 
> trigger warnings: implied self-harm/suicidal ideation, slight mention of gore.

23.

_The power thrumming through his veins, the rush of adrenaline from seeing fear in the eyes of his opponent._

_"You're right, Jasper. I have been holding back."_

_The glittering, glowing barriers that effortlessly materialize before him, the lethal spikes that extend from the outer side, defense becoming offense. A grin lighting up his glowing features as the barriers descend onto his victim, the explosion of pink light and rock that correspond with a crash of thunder and bolt of blinding lightning._

_He's laughing, he's laughing while he floats down back to the ground, elated, victorious. Rain trickles down from the sky, a light patter. He begins towards the epicenter of his demolition in the earth, past rubble and lifted dirt, to the deep crater made from the force of his power and impression of Jasper's form. And then, a glint of orange. Multiple, tiny little glints of orange, sparkling pieces, half-buried in the mud._

_There are several moments where the image freezes, focused on the pieces of the enemy he has completely decimated. The broken pieces of his victim, irrevocably changed._

_Everything goes black and he hears his own screams of horror._

_He opens his eyes to a dark room and a small white figure glowing brightly at his feet. She's crawling backwards, crawling away in fear as he towers over her tiny, tiny form. But it's his own voice that comes out of her mouth._

_"W-what's going on?" Little ~~Pink~~ White whimpers._

_Anger ignites deep inside the all powerful ~~White~~ Steven Diamond and he lifts a hand, entangled in invisible strings, watching the horror twist the Little Diamond's face as ~~his~~ her hand is suspended above ~~him~~ her against ~~his~~ her will. _

_"What?" The other large, flesh hand rises and the tiny white one follows suit, long, bare white legs scrambling to a standing position as ~~he's~~ she's lifted up. The tiny, quivering voice of a weak, scared little boy echoes up to the wrathful Diamond. "No, stop it! I don't like this!"_

_"Too bad." ~~Her~~ His deep, fearsome voice booms darkly._

_"Let me go!"_

_The Little Diamond tries to resist the way ~~his~~ her limbs move completely of the Big Diamond's volition, taking step after unwilling step towards one giant pillar, ~~flesh-colored~~ white hands extended to grasp it between them._

_"Please, stop!" The pathetic voice begs as the Little Diamond struggles against the manipulation of ~~his~~ her autonomy, "You're scaring me."_

_The Big Diamond sneers, reeling back. "This is for everything you put me through!" The deep voice is filled with an unspeakable rage that combats the plaintive fear laden in the littler voice which rings out, much to the Big Diamond's surprise._

_"Please don't do this, Steven!"_

_He looks down at the Little Steven who has been bent over backwards helplessly, watching him upside down. The Big Steven blinks in confusion, but then he shakes his head as if to clear it and scowls. "I'm not Steven anymore."_

_Big Steven thrusts his head forward into empty air and Little Steven cries out in pain as his head collides with the pillar, leaving a dent in the stone. But the Little hands are still held on and Big and Little rear their heads back to slam them forward again, Little shrieks becoming muffled and transforming into a much deeper sound, a much louder sound but filled with no less pain._

_It's a horrible, wretched roaring sound coming from a horrible monster the size of a skyscraper, with razor claws on it's hands and feet, spikes all over it's body, terrible gnashing teeth, and glowing eyes. The monster is slamming it's head against a cliffside, wreaking mindless havoc, emanating horrendous power and strength._

_Little, colorful figures are watching on at it's feet, but it's not interested in them. All it knows is_ **_it hurts, it needs to run, it needs to destroy itself and everything else so it all can stop._ **

_The pink monster is mindless, but it tries to get away from the sudden watery chains that bind it. It knows it cannot let itself be trapped, but it also knows that the chains are no match for it's superior strength._

_The monster rips through the weak restraints and roars, shaking off the water that bursts from the breaking chains. The colorful figures fret around it, desperate to reign in it's terrible rampage of destruction, but they are powerless to curb such an unstoppable force._

_Before they know it, the monster is bounding towards town, crushing Little Homeworld under it's giant, pink reptilian feet and making it's way to the boardwalk._

_Connie Maheswaran was enjoying a beautiful summer day at Funland. She spent most of the day in the arcade and had a blast playing some of her favorite games. She won them all. She decided to celebrate with some Fish Stew Pizza, but while she's walking along the boardwalk, the beautiful sunny sky begins to become dark and grey. A giant shadow is cast on the boardwalk by her feet. Before she can look up, an ear shattering roar ripples through the air. Screams of the people of Beach City resound around her, running away in fear, before she catches sight of the biggest thing she's ever seen: a horrible pink monster the size of a skyscraper, with razor claws on it's hands and feet, spikes all over it's body, terrible gnashing teeth, and glowing pink eyes staring right at her. Before she can move a muscle, the monster reaches down and scoops her up._

_She is frozen in fear as the monster raises her up in it's grasp and stretches it's jaws wide, showing off sharp and dangerous teeth. She lets out a blood-curdling scream._

"Steven, wake up!" He hears her voice call out to him distantly amongst the gruesome echos of his dream. He blinks his eyes open to see her beautiful face hovering above him, soft pink light illuminating her features and displaying her concerned expression.

"Connie," He rasps, delighted that she's alive and unharmed and _right here_ , reveling in her firm grip around his shoulders which makes him feel safe and contained. There's almost a smile on his lips, expression full of relief and warmth for the woman he adores. His brain catches up a second later, however, and it instantly begins picturing a mess of gore dripping from a monstrous pink mouth and a screaming girl. That's the moment when he finally notices his pink, glowing limbs swollen to twice their normal size, thrumming with power and cortisol.

Steven jumps out of his skin with a desperate gasp for air as if he's just been dunked into ice water. Connie wobbles off of him with his commotion, landing on her side of the bed softly while he scrambles away and falls off of the bed and onto the hardwood floor with a big _thump_.

He hasn't had a pink fit in a while, and he's usually more or less conscious when they're happening. Also, nowadays he has an entire tool box of methods to control them. Right now, though, Steven is disoriented and half-asleep, his mind reeling with events from the past he usually only allows himself to think about in therapy, if at all. It's been _years_ , and yet he somehow still can't escape the _monster_ who approaches when least expected.

Steven's back hits the wall as he shuffles backwards on the floor, his hands shaking, his knees drawn up to his chest and his breath erratic and labored. He buries his fingers into his hair and pulls at the strands, then buries his face into knees to hide his glowing face and, he _knows_ , his glowing, white pupils.

He's breathing so frantically and his mind is whirring so loudly that he doesn't hear his girlfriends approach until she's sat herself right in front of him.

"Steven," She says softly, gently grasping at the hands that are entwined in a death grip with his locks, coaxing them to release with light strokes of her thumbs. "Come on, look at me."

Steven shakes his head in refusal, oh so enticed by her comforting touch but still so _terrified_ of himself and _what he could do in this state_. "G-get back." His breath hiccups and he releases a sob which makes him feel pathetic. Frustrated anger at himself has him clearing his throat and grunting out, "S'dangerous."

Connie actually scoffs at that, and he can hear the smirk on her face as she speaks, "Oh, please, Universe. As if you could ever hurt me."

Her tone makes him look up at her with watery, inhuman eyes just peeking above his knees.

Connie smiles at him reassuringly. _How is she so perfect?_ "Breathe with me, okay? In for four, hold for seven, out for eight."

As they breathe together his hands slowly release their death grip on his own hair and Connie takes full advantage, pulling them to her chest and squeezing them firmly. Seconds after she begins squeezing, he watches their pink hue fade into flesh-color, their swollen size returning to normal. The room that was once awash in pink light darkens significantly, the only source of light being the soft orange coming from the crack in the bedroom door and the beams of moonlight through the window.

"Better?" Connie whispers, voice now noticeably rough from roused sleep.

Steven nods silently and, after a moment, grimaces. "Sorry for waking you."

Connie sighs, but more for his sake than hers. "S'alright," She promises, bringing one of his hands still in her grasp to her lips for a soft kiss. It's still trembling, the aftershocks of his panic still coursing through his system. "Do you wanna come back to bed?"

The beauty of her question is not lost of him. Even after more than a year of living together in the same apartment, it's incredible that both of them are finally in a world where they share so much space yet still live such individual lives with such bright futures. Steven pulls their conjoined hands to his own lips and murmurs his confirmation against her warm, soft skin.

The two of them stumble in the dark back to their bed, slipping under the covers and shifting into their spots.

"Hey," Steven pipes up suddenly, his voice gravely from disuse, still slightly tremulous from the adrenaline and the fresh emotions. "I love you, Connie. So much." He leans over and kisses her head, catching the familiar scent of her shampoo and just _her_. "Thank you."

Connie smiles warmly, enveloping her arms around his neck to pull him down against her chest. "I love you, too, Biscuit." Steven responds with wrapping his arms around her torso, nuzzling into her shoulder and pressing a chaste kiss there. She smooths a hand through his curls at the back of his head, paying them much gentler attention than he had just moments ago. "And don't act like you wouldn't do the same for me. Like you _haven't_ done the same."

Steven laughs a little, breathing out a sigh and wiggling closer into her embrace as they both get comfy. " _Still_." He teases, rubbing his stubbled chin against her neck and making her giggle. "You help me come back to earth. Sometimes, literally."

"I'd help you come back no matter what planet we're on, Steven." She murmurs into his hair, pulling him all the closer, wrapping a leg around him and snuggling deeper until they are practically sharing the same body. But only practically. She sighs sleepily. "I always will."

Steven lets out a contended hum, his chest filling with unequivocal love as the comfort of this woman's presence seeps into his bones. Moment by moment, the images and feelings from his dream melt away and are replaced by the face of the love of his life, the sound of the steady beat of her heart and her evening breath, and the warmth of her body intertwined with his.

He has no trouble at all falling back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this conclusion to Nightmares, if you did I'd love to hear what you think! Either way, thanks for reading! :P

**Author's Note:**

> Yell at me on tumblr @intrepidem :)


End file.
